Tourists flood to Turkey’s Antalya

Turkey’s domestic tourism is on the increase due to the ten-day holiday of Eid al-Adha, meaning “sacrifice feast,” one of the two most important holidays in the Muslim calendar. The official holiday starts on Aug. 26 and will conclude on Sept. 4. The southern province of Antalya expects to attract one-and-a-half million tourists during the holiday.

Turkish citizens preferred mostly Antalya as a local spot to spend their holiday.

Foreign and local tourists caused traffic in domestic and international arrivals at the “Antalya Airport,” particularly those arriving from Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Gaziantep, Trabzon and Samsun.

Kaan Şengül, one of the vacationers who traveled from Istanbul to Antalya, said: “I arrived in Antalya from Istanbul to spend my ten-day Eid al-Adha holiday with my family. I will enjoy the sea, sun, sand, as well as pool activities during my vacation. We will have a good long rest during the holiday.”

“We came here from Istanbul to spend our ten-day festive holiday. We will have fun and blow off some steam. We will relieve ourselves of Istanbul’s city-stress. We came here with our child and plan to spend quality time together,” another couple who chose Antalya as the destination for their vacation, Cem and İlknur Akgül noted.